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Saturday, December 29, 2012

The Curry Bowl - Fernie, BC

To kick off our holiday vacation, my companion and I decided
to make the big drive down from Edmonton, AB to Fernie, BC Alpine Resort to
enjoy our first time out boarding this season. After anxiously checking the
snow reports and finding a disappointing base of only about 100 cm, we were
rewarded with a winter storm warning that predicted a fresh dump of 35 cm the night we
were driving in. After blowing through six hours of fresh, mind-blowing,
waist-deep powder we were both exhausted and famished. Our first choice for
dinner was the local sushi restaurant Yamagoya. As it turned out, the one night
we were in town, Yamagoya had the staff Christmas party, so we were left with no
choice but to head down the street to The Curry Bowl, a house-converted-Thai-restaurant.
(We ended up extending our boarding trip for dinner at Yamagoya, but more on
that later!)

Panang Curry (side of rice and pickled vegetables)

Since it was a last minute change, we arrived at a packed
restaurant without reservations. Luckily, we arrived a little past prime-dinner
time at 8:00PM and were quickly seated for dinner after only a 15-minute wait.
While we were waiting, we had a chance to peruse the menu and were ready to
order as soon as we were seated. My companion ordered a Panang Curry and hot
chocolate (after we were informed that the Limeade was out) while I decided on
Mango / Shrimp Curry and traditional Chai tea. The drinks came out as we were
discussing the decor of the restaurant: it featured simple furniture with grey-brown,
stone tiles and rustic wooden beams. It had a quaint and cozy environment, just
the kind of fireside-feel you need after a day of hard snowboarding. My Chai
tea came out steaming hot with swirls of cinnamon powder sprinkled on top. The
cinnamon powder added a nice, spicy aroma to the Chai tea. As good as it
smelled, the Chai tea turned out rather tasteless and the cinnamon powder did
not add the spicy-sweet taste of cinnamon sugar I was expecting; instead it
made the first part of my Chai tea taste rather chalky. My companion’s hot
chocolate, on the other hand, was rich in chocolate flavour and featured little
floating marshmallows – exactly like the kind I drank back in my childhood.

Mango / Shrimp Curry(with a side of rice and pickled vegetables)

The main courses came out as we were sipping our drinks: both dishes featured a bowl of curry in a traditional Thai-style bowl accompanied by a
medium-sized portion of rice and a side of pickled vegetables. Although the golden Thai-style bowls added a nice touch, presentation for both main courses was utterly sloppy. There was curry running along the rims of both bowls and my particular dish had a splash of curry on the rice and plate. Definitely sloppy handiwork in my opinion.The first bite
of my mango curry had a smooth, thick texture that slid all the way down to my
stomach and warmed me from the inside out. It had a rich, peanut-taste which I
found very unique from other curries. By the middle of my Mango / Shrimp Curry, however, I realized I had no idea what I was eating: I never found any shrimp, or at
least anything that resembled shrimp texture or taste, in my curry; I never got
a burst, or even a hint of the sweet mango explosion that I loved in so many other
mango dishes; and I never got a sense of any other spices or coconut flavour that I
love so much about curry dishes. Instead, by 3/4 of the dish, everything in my
curry started tasting rather like starchy potatoes covered in a rich
peanut-sauce. The dish overall lacked any sharp spice taste, fiery kick, or
coconut sweetness that could cut through the unique peanut taste. The panang curry is a traditional red Thai curry which features a mild broth rich in coconut milk and very little other liquid. My companion’s Panang Curry, like my Mango
/ Shrimp Curry, had an exquisite first bite which featured a thick broth that
highlighted rich spices and a sharp, salty taste and was very unique from the
traditional panang curry I was accustomed to. Although both curries had wonderfully
unique first-bites, my companion and I agreed that by the end of the night, the
curries were quickly forgettable and when visiting a Thai restaurant, we much
preferred traditional coconut-infused curries.

The atmosphere and service at The Curry Bowl are exactly what you need after a hard day of snowboarding at Fernie. However, the main dishes, while unique on first-bite, became bland and forgettable and lost major style points for sloppy presentation.